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Short Skinner+ (to EWEB)

February 5, 2016 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: nearly 60F

Comments:
Another annoying day. Can I complain any more??

Worked early - to see coaching client Nick, who's been having hip pain - then had:

- a 30-minute eval (usually 60)
- a problem patient (+progress note)
- back-to-back pool visits across town without enough travel time
- shit load of paper work after all that

Long-story-short: I was working 'til 3PM.

Foot was...OK? I wore the Cliftons to work today, but did not have my foot taped, because I knew it'd fall off in the pool. As such, it was sore in the morning.

This should be - and WILL BE - the new standard for run vs no-run: if it's sore BEFORE running (morning into afternoon), then NO run. If it's "fine", then short run in the PM.

Ran the Skinner Loop once I got home, with taped foot and Hokas. The tape was too tight (and fresh), so I felt some discomfort from that, but otherwise it felt good, yet again. Some MINOR plantar soreness, but not bad...

PM: Foot was sore, like "over-did it sore". Damn. Studied for a couple hours at the coffee shop, then home for dinner, then to Pleasant Hill to watch Matt Thornton's boys varsity basketball team, with some of his former CGHS coworkers that I've known for a while. Got some beers afterwards, which was fine.

Of Interest: The concept of "Protective Tension" is major component of chronic injury pain. Once something is compromised, there's a habit (conscious or not) to "tense" the sensitive area. In the short term, it can protect it, but beyond that, it keeps a constant load on the muscle, and it prevents it from relaxing and staying flexible!

This was an issue for my left Achilles five years ago (and likely a year ago, too), and may be with my left foot. Shit, it's the same as with my jaw and face: just constantly being a little "tensed", all day! NO GOOD!

So the question is, how do you truly relax it? Just say, "relax"? Shit doesn't work.

During the game, it came to me: Why not use "reciprocal inhibition"?

RI is the concept of using an antagonistic muscle to relax the agonist. So during "contract-relax" muscle stretching, you squeeze the quad to relax the hamstring, then take the stretch further - on and off, on and off.

So during the game, I was doing some toe and ankle dorsiflexions - lots! Quick ones, slow holds, etc. Then, when it came time to walk, I did a major toe-up (heel strike) so that I was actively using my dorsiflexors. Doing so, in theory, allows (requires) the plantarflexors to relax for half the time with walking...as opposed to possibly staying tensed the whole time.

Food for thought.